It was almost three days later that Harry awoke after the ritual had been complete having spent the duration asleep on the hard floor.
He stretched and groaned before standing, taking a moment to steady his wobbly before he opened his eyes.
He felt different, that was for sure. For the first time in his life he felt complete, like he had always been missing something, like an extra sense he had never been aware of before.
He looked down, his eyes widening at what he saw.
It wasn't the fact that he had several creatures etched into various parts of his skin, it was that he felt taller and looked a little bigger than he remembered being.
He drew his wand and conjured a large mirror so he could look at himself properly and to ensure he wasn't just imagining it. He wasn't.
He was certainly a little more muscular than he had been and at least a couple of inches taller to.
"He didn't mention this" he whispered.
He shook his head and decided that he would ask Charlus about it when he saw him, which would be soon enough. He instead turned his attention to the beasts that had been tattooed into his flesh noted how beautiful each one looked, before frowning as he realised one was missing.
"Where's the Thestral" he wondered aloud.
He took stock of what he could see and frowned, surprised by the appearance of one of the animals.
On the right side of his torso he had what he assumed to be a Ukrainian Ironbelly etched across the entirety of his ribs, finishing somewhere on the top, outer part of his thigh, hidden by his underwear. The entire thing was a deep grey in colour with icy blue eyes.
The left side had a Hungarian Horntail that mirrored the other, completely grey as the other dragon was with bright amber eyes.
"The cut it gave me" he whispered in realisation as he rubbed his right arm where the beast had caught him during the first task of the tournament.
The expected basilisk had found a home on the bottom half of his left leg, coiled around his shin with its head resting on the top of his foot complete with the bright yellow eyes.
Although he did not have particularly fond memories of the creature at all, he had to admit that it was beautiful in its own way and had certainly become a part of him.
The phoenix was on the back of his right calf, smaller than he had expected it would be but was no less beautiful than the others. It looked very much like Fawkes and had one orange and one red eye.
It was when he made to turn to get a better look at one of the dragons that his eye caught something on his shoulder blade and he rotated to get a better look, his eyes widening in complete shock.
His whole back had been taken up by a Thestral in flight, the wings spreading across the entirety of his shoulders, looking as though it was flying out of the skin. The eyes were a bright emerald green very much like his own and his breath hitched in his chest at the beauty of the creature.
"I guess you are the one I'm most like" he said warmly, eyeing the inky creature fondly. "It definitely could have been much worse" he added, breathing a sigh of relief. He spent a further ten minutes simply staring at himself and the changes that had been done to him and simply enjoying the feeling of freedom.
Even his eyes had changed slightly.
They had always been a rather bright shade of green but they were even more brighter and seemed to glow a small amount, not that he was opposed to it. He had always liked his eye colour and now it just seemed to be more accentuated.
He eventually pulled himself away from his reflection and conjured a gown, knowing that his clothes would no longer fit him, the underwear was tight enough and he wasn't going to test the t-shirt.
He pulled on the gown and approached the door while doing it up, sighing as he placed his hand on the handle.
'This is weird' he sighed internally. He entered the kitchen to find the rest of the Potter's sat around the table eating breakfast and Dorea gave a massive sigh of relief when she became aware that he had joined.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, giving him a very calculative stare.
"I feel great" Harry answered honestly. "Better than I ever have".
Dorea nodded and continued to stare.
"You're taller" she stated matter of factly. "And you look bigger".
"I think I am" Harry replied. "I feel it".
"I should have mentioned that" Charlus cut in. "I myself grew an inch after mine and filled out a little".
"I think of grown a few inches" Harry sighed with a frown. "I'd say so" Dorea replied. "Look at me a moment" she requested.
Harry did so and her eyes widened.
"Your eyes are definitely brighter by a fair amount" she pointed out.
Harry just nodded.
"Any other changes?" Charlus asked.
Harry nodded again and swallowed deeply.
It wasn't that he was ashamed of the markings at all he was just nervous about the reactions they would have to him having so many and mostly large ones.
"More than expected?" the man chuckled knowingly.
Harry nodded again and took a deep breath before undoing the gown and removing it. Charlus let out a low appreciative whistle while James and Dorea both looked shocked. "No Thestral?" Charlus asked with a frown. Harry simply turned around to reveal his back and heard three gasps of disbelief.
"Shitting hell" James muttered.
"It's beautiful, they all are" Dorea whispered. "What's up with the other dragon and the snake?" James questioned with a frown. "And the phoenix" he added.
Harry looked towards Charlus and Dorea who both nodded.
"Sirius has gone to see his Grandfather to see if he can get some books on family magic, he can't learn ours" Charlus explained.
Harry sighed again and dragged his hand through his hair.
"I faced the Horntail during the Triwizard tournament, got bit by a basilisk and healed by a phoenix" he explained quickly. "Bit by a basilisk?" James asked weakly. "Triwizard tournament?" he continued in disbelief.
"The boy killed the basilisk with a sword" Charlus announced proudly causing James to pale further "and won the tournament".
James shook his head, a heartbroken look making its way on his face.
"I'm sorry Harry" he whispered, choking on his words. "You shouldn't have had to do any of that".
"It wasn't your fault" Harry stated firmly. "You weren't there" he reminded him.
"But I should have been" James returned angrily.
Harry shook his head.
.
.
.
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